stoneyb245

hello all,excuse the newbiness,but i've been reading for the last month or so,and it started with a slight whistle at idle or low rpm's.
98 accord ex automatic,so i found this sight and began reading and reading,i'm at 93,000,never a problem,but after reading and understanding what a biggy the timing belt braking was..i didnt want that to go so i called around got a few prices.dealer was 490.00 with warranty,so i scheduled it ,asked them if it might have been drive belts(original)and got a new battery and had alternator tested.

so this isnt a loud whistle just at idle,below 2000rpm,i read it could have been like a idler tensioner or pulley?one guy said a vaccum line possibly.so i asked honda to check it out today while doing the timing belt job.

so when they called to tell me it was done,they said i'd have to reschedule to spend more time on the whistling,and had tested alternator and this and that,i mentioned the idler pulley,but didnt want to seem like a know it all type.

and it hasnt gotten worse,but what should i expect if and when i go back,they said if it got worse or louder it would be easier to locate?thanks in advance

92ehatch

is it a high pitch whistle, or more of a lower tone?

mine whistles too, nothing loud. its a lower tone whistle and it was coming from my intake at idle.

do you have an aftermarket intake? or even removed the resonator tubes?

stoneyb245

hey thanks for the input,it's a high tone whistle,but not constant,sometimes not at all,but 80% of the time at idle or getting up to 35-45 mph(i think around 2000rpm,not sure)

what did you do to fix it,once you knew what it was?,and i just boght me a haynes manual and was proud to just start doing my own maintenace.so i really dont know what those 2 things are you asked about,sorry,but it's completely stock all around.thanks again for the input

92ehatch

i didnt fix it. lol my intake was causing it, and the only fix i had was to put the oem one back on.

my alternator whines as well, it is a high pitched noise, but gets louder with the rpms, until about 3500 - 4000 rpms.

the only way we can really help at all is if you find out exactly what is causing it

Eddiebx

poke your head around and see where the whistle is coming from. someitmes when the alternator bearing goes bad they start to make a high pitched squeal.

but ur best bet is to first isolate whre the noise is comign from then we can help you more.

stoneyb245

thanks to you too eddie,i've been on both sides and to this day i thought it was coming from behind the timing belt covers!that being why i stepped up replacement,and thought if was a tensioner or pulley they would catch that since they were supposed to be looking for the whistle too!

i've listened everywhere to me(i know nothing except what i've read the last month and the haynes manul)it does sound as if it's coming from the timing belt cover or at least that region of the car,does the alternator bearing just go out?because it's been tested twice and said it was ok?

i'm sorry for the vaguness but that's all i got,thanks for replies gentlemen!

Eddiebx

one way to be more precise while poking around is, try taking a long screw driver, and touching the tip to say the alternator, and then put ur ear next to the handle. this acts as sort of a stethescope, however u spell it.

might help you isolate it better.

as far as the dist bearings, from my experience, the slowly give out, and the whine becomes more apparent. a simple alternator load test will not determine if the bearings are bad, only that it is capable of outputing the proper amperage curve.

not saying that its definitely the alternator, but doesn't hurt to check,

georgeda

A piece of garden hose or plastic tube will also work to locate the noise. Put one end of hose to your ear and keep moving the other end to diferent components under the hood. You should hear it real loud when you get to the bad part.

stoneyb245

thank you all for the help will try these this weekend,when i have some time and report back in with findings,thanks again!